CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AFP) — Republican White House candidate John McCain on Thursday branded Barack Obama's tax policies as "just plain dumb" after new global finance shocks rocked the presidential race.
McCain said here that he would fire the head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission for turning Wall Street into a "casino" and proposed a new trust to rescue troubled companies before they become insolvent.
"Senator Obama talks a tough game on the financial markets but the facts tell a different story," McCain said here, in a speech interrupted by an anti-war protestor.
The Republican said his Democratic rival had failed to do anything to avert the crisis with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, two giant organizations which guarantee billions of dollars in mortgages which were taken over by the government on September 7.
"He didn't lift a hand to avert this crisis," McCain said, accusing Obama of remaining silent in Congress as the mortgage crisis was building.
McCain also pounced on a comment by Obama's vice presidential running mate Senator Joseph Biden that it would be "patriotic" for wealthy Americans to pay higher taxes at a time of economic need.
"Raising taxes in a tough economy isn't patriotic," McCain said. "It's not a badge of honor, it's just plain dumb."
Biden told ABC News in an interview broadcast on Thursday that under the Obama plan for a middle class tax cut, wealthier people earning over 250,000 dollars a year would have to pay more.
"It is time to be patriotic, time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to get America out of a rut."
Turning on US regulatory authorities, McCain said that the SEC had allowed speculators to turn the US stock market into a casino.
"The chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the president and has betrayed the public trust. If I were president today, I would fire him," McCain said.
The Arizona Republican also revealed a plan to create a mortgage and financial institutions trust (MFI) to work with regulators and the private sector to identify weak institutions.
"The MFI will enhance investor and market confidence, benefit sound financial institutions, assist troubled institutions and protect our financial system," McCain said.
As Obama and McCain vie to show voters they are ready to take on the challenge of the mushrooming financial crisis, McCain warned Obama was trying to score naked political points.
"Senator Obama's own advisers are saying that the crisis will benefit him politically.
"That's the kind of me-first, country second politics that are broken in Washington. Senator Obama isn't change, he's part of the problem.
The Obama campaign counters that McCain is out of touch on the economy, and supported Republican policies which the Illinois senator blames for inciting the current crisis.
McCain's warm-up act was his vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who is wildly popular with conservative groups, but also saw her speech interrupted by a protestor.
As McCain was speaking, one protestor shouted "John, we never won, we lost in Vietnam."
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